A common misconception is that if you die without a will, the state simply takes your property. It does not, except in the rare case where literally no relative can be found. What actually happens is that your state’s intestate succession law decides who inherits, in a fixed order, regardless of what you might have wanted.
How intestate succession generally works
Every state we practise in has its own statute, but the pattern is similar: a surviving spouse and children are first in line, with the exact split between them depending on the state and on whether the children are also the surviving spouse’s children. If there is no spouse or child, the law moves outward to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives. An unmarried partner, a stepchild you never formally adopted, and a close friend typically receive nothing under intestate succession, no matter how close the relationship actually was.
Why this catches families off guard
We regularly meet families where the result under the statute is not remotely what the person who died would have chosen. Common examples include a surviving spouse having to share the estate with the deceased’s parents or adult children from a prior relationship, a long-term partner who was never married receiving nothing at all, and a minor child inheriting property outright at eighteen with no structure around it.
Dying without a will also does not avoid court. Someone still has to open an administration with the probate court, and because there is no named executor, the court appoints one, which is not always the person the family would have chosen and can itself become a point of family conflict.
The fix is straightforward
A basic will lets you choose who is in charge, who receives what, and who raises your minor children if needed, rather than leaving those decisions to a default statute. For most families this is not an expensive or complicated document to put in place. If you already suspect a loved one died without a will, we can walk you through what intestate administration looks like in your state and what happens next.